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Whigging out
Author: Raine    Date: 02/09/2015 14:07:10

Last November the house increased its GOP majority and the Senate found itself with a Republican majority. The conservatives were happy. They would now be ready to legislate their agenda. The new Senate majority Leader was ready to go to work.
" {Henry} Clay obviously has a special place in the lives of many Kentuckians, and particularly somebody like me who ended up being in the Senate and looks to a person like Clay for guidance," McConnell said in the interview. "The way Clay operated — a marvelous combination of compromise and principle — is a lesson for the ages if you're a public official."

It's a lesson McConnell says he wants to bring back to the Senate.

"The Senate in the last few years basically doesn't do anything. We don't even vote," McConnell said in a press conference one day after the election.

Many blame McConnell for that. He did, after all, once declare that his top priority was to make Barack Obama a one-term president. Now, he says he wants to see the Senate become the chamber of deliberative debate. He wants to see it pass bills, not resort to procedural gamesmanship.

Flash forward to February 2015. The Republican-led Senate held three votes in three days to fund the DHS — which includes overturning the President's executives actions regarding immigration changes — and all three times the Democratic minority filibustered it.
The conundrum was somewhat predictable. McConnell had relinquished his only surefire leverage — to withhold funds to keep the government running — by promising there was "no possibility of a government shutdown" on his watch.
(snip)
McConnell was flummoxed by Democrats' blocking tactics.

"I think it's a rather, honestly, absurd position to say that, 'We object to the bill but we don't want to debate the bill or change the bill.' So, I'm perplexed," he said, responding to a question from TPM. "I think it's a pretty hard argument to make with a straight face."

After the Thursday vote, McConnell adjourned the Senate for the week without a fallback plan as the clock ticks to a DHS shutdown on February 27.

Multiple Republican senators who spoke to TPM to last week — including Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), Roger Wicker (R-MS) and Jeff Flake (R-AZ) — said they didn't know what the Senate would do next on DHS funding.
Behind closed doors, there are Republicans asking for a clean bill to get out of this mess.
The GOP-led House had just created a quandary with no easy way out — passing a $39.7 billion Department of Homeland Security spending bill loaded with riders on immigration policy that stand no chance of clearing a Democratic filibuster in the Senate. And with funding set to run out at the end of February, some GOP senators were in no mood to play endless games with the House.

“We just need to rip the Band-Aid off,” said one Republican senator, saying the Senate should strip out all the immigration language and pass a “clean” DHS funding bill. “I think the House guys rolled a grenade in the room,” a second GOP senator said later.
They have no back up plan. And it really does drive the point that Senator Franken made last week.
Roughly 25 minutes into Thursday’s meeting, senators had finished debate but were still lacking the attendance level needed to officially advance legislation on child pornography victims and public access to government information. Then, Franken arrived to push attendance over the tipping point.

“You know, you guys are in the majority,” Franken teased GOP senators as he entered the room.

With a reporting quorum secured, Chairman Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, sought to quickly move ahead with the committee’s agenda.

But Franken pressed his point, telling Grassley, “No, I want to say something about this.”

“You know when we were in the majority … we had the responsibility to provide a quorum,” Franken said. “And I thought that you guys, your side, didn't show up because you just resented being in the minority. But now I know … it’s just sheer laziness.”
Don't let the article's headline fool you, he may have been smiling when he said it, but he was not joking.

They are too lazy and quite honestly, spiteful to actually govern in any proper way. Let's go back to the 2014 article I posted above…
Democrats are quick to point out, however, that he has also led more than 500 filibusters against them since Obama took office. Binder says McConnell can only hope they don't retaliate in kind.

"Henry Clay hated the filibuster! He knew that it was preventing his Whig majority from getting anything done," Binder said.

So ironically, if Democrats do get their revenge on McConnell with filibusters, he'll have one more thing in common with his Kentucky hero.
That's right. Henry Clay, upon his death, was a member of the Whig party.

At the rate that the GOP is headed, It will go the way of the Whigs and just become the Tea party.

It could be one more thing the leader might have in common with his political Hero.

and
Raine
 

46 comments (Latest Comment: 02/09/2015 23:41:48 by TriSec)
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Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 14:27:40
good morning!

Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 14:30:52
Hello. I can not stress enough you that you need to see "The Book of Mormon" if the opportunity presents itself. I now know why Keith Olbermann saw it five times. That is all about that.

About Lil Bitch McConnell, does little baby like it now that he's Majority Leader?

Comment by Scoopster on 02/09/2015 14:42:14
Mornin' all..

It took me almost 6 hours to get home from Worcester yesterday by commuter rail.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 14:43:57
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

It took me almost 6 hours to get home from Worcester yesterday by commuter rail.

Woah, because of snow?

Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 14:46:01
Morning

Comment by TriSec on 02/09/2015 14:46:13
Morning, comrades.

Unlike Scoop, I'm not even making the attempt to reach Worcester today. (FCHP is closed.) And while I don't actually drive on this particular highway, I-495 was rife with exclamation points on the traffic map this morning (which they use to denote accidents.)

The Pike is down to 40mph, no tandems, tankers, or propane.


Comment by Scoopster on 02/09/2015 14:54:32
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Scoopster:
Mornin' all..

It took me almost 6 hours to get home from Worcester yesterday by commuter rail.

Woah, because of snow?

It was a combination of snow and broken down trains - We boarded only like 5-10 mins late because we had to hike past a broken down train, but then we waited over a half hour more because they decided to tow the broken down train back to Boston. The added train length & weight plus the snow kept our speeds way down, so we ended up getting there 90 mins late. Then I had to wait another 90 mins in South Station because I missed the transfer to the Providence line. Which isn't so bad because the food court there is really awesome (I sat in the little tavern place, had some beers & hitched up to the public wifi).

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 14:55:02
Quote by TriSec:
Morning, comrades.

Unlike Scoop, I'm not even making the attempt to reach Worcester today. (FCHP is closed.) And while I don't actually drive on this particular highway, I-495 was rife with exclamation points on the traffic map this morning (which they use to denote accidents.)

The Pike is down to 40mph, no tandems, tankers, or propane.
You guys are getting pounded this year.




Comment by velveeta jones on 02/09/2015 15:08:33
Great blog! Love me some Franken!!

Stay safe all my northern friends.I'll be thinking of ya as I do some lawn work and possibly take a bike ride.



Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 15:14:40
Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 15:20:43
Hope everyone up north stays safe and warm!

Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 15:34:43
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 15:45:10
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 15:54:06
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Nice! now can they shrink it down for my yard and make it work in the shade of said yard.


Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 16:03:47
Scoop, the next time you visit NY, think about a visit to Beacon for this...

Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 16:04:12



His wife wore what appears to be a gold lame bathroom.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 16:06:56
Quote by Mondobubba:



His wife wore what appears to be a gold lame bathroom.



Comment by BobR on 02/09/2015 16:07:09
Quote by Mondobubba:

His wife wore what appears to be a gold lame bathroom.

They are both a couple of untalented attention whores

Comment by BobR on 02/09/2015 16:21:46
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Nice! now can they shrink it down for my yard and make it work in the shade of said yard.

Our neighbor has this. He can fold it up and put it in his closet when he's done: http://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-50214-Discharge-Mulching-Electric/dp/B004H4X6OC/ref=sr_1_19?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1423498524&sr=1-19

This one also looks interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MTE912-12-Inch-Electric/dp/B00HH4K6XS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423498425&sr=8-4&keywords=electric+mower


Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 16:34:31
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Nice! now can they shrink it down for my yard and make it work in the shade of said yard.

Our neighbor has this. He can fold it up and put it in his closet when he's done: http://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-50214-Discharge-Mulching-Electric/dp/B004H4X6OC/ref=sr_1_19?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1423498524&sr=1-19

This one also looks interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MTE912-12-Inch-Electric/dp/B00HH4K6XS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423498425&sr=8-4&keywords=electric+mower



Those are both cool.

I'm thinking something that's no bigger then 12" w by 18" L at the most. Maybe re-position the wheels so you don't have that inch gap on the sides.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 16:40:40
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Nice! now can they shrink it down for my yard and make it work in the shade of said yard.

Our neighbor has this. He can fold it up and put it in his closet when he's done: http://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-50214-Discharge-Mulching-Electric/dp/B004H4X6OC/ref=sr_1_19?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1423498524&sr=1-19

This one also looks interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MTE912-12-Inch-Electric/dp/B00HH4K6XS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423498425&sr=8-4&keywords=electric+mower



Those are both cool.

I'm thinking something that's no bigger then 12" w by 18" L at the most. Maybe re-position the wheels so you don't have that inch gap on the sides.
FRom seeing the pictures of you lawn and cam paring it to his (you know Beth and Eric, the live exactly to the right of us calming out our fromt door)

I think they have a smaller yard then you. The handle folds down and it is a really compact machine.

if you want, before spring comes, you could come over and I am sure Eric would let you check it out.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 16:43:00
Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 16:45:24
Quote by Raine:
Mala: As to you #3 wish, I would love for one of these to open up in the area.



I would love for them to open up everywhere there is a town - *whispers* I really want them to be called Fluffy

Comment by velveeta jones on 02/09/2015 16:51:38
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's


HAD ONE they are superb!!

Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 16:54:32
Quote by velveeta jones:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's


HAD ONE they are superb!!



oohhh they make a small one - nice!


Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 16:57:58
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by BobR:
Quote by wickedpam:
Quote by Raine:
Quote by wickedpam:
I've added a new item to my list of things either I or someone else needs to invent -

1) sm lawnmower for townhouse/condo owners for small lawns with rechargeable battery
2) street stripping paint that glows so that you can see it in the dark, when it rains and in the snow - thinking that funky glowy bacteria

3) new item - gyms for fat people with fun classes designed for how larger people move - call it Fluffy's
they have solar mowers!


Nice! now can they shrink it down for my yard and make it work in the shade of said yard.

Our neighbor has this. He can fold it up and put it in his closet when he's done: http://www.amazon.com/Earthwise-50214-Discharge-Mulching-Electric/dp/B004H4X6OC/ref=sr_1_19?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1423498524&sr=1-19

This one also looks interesting: http://www.amazon.com/Black-Decker-MTE912-12-Inch-Electric/dp/B00HH4K6XS/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1423498425&sr=8-4&keywords=electric+mower



Those are both cool.

I'm thinking something that's no bigger then 12" w by 18" L at the most. Maybe re-position the wheels so you don't have that inch gap on the sides.
FRom seeing the pictures of you lawn and cam paring it to his (you know Beth and Eric, the live exactly to the right of us calming out our fromt door)

I think they have a smaller yard then you. The handle folds down and it is a really compact machine.

if you want, before spring comes, you could come over and I am sure Eric would let you check it out.



Think they're yard is smaller.

Might take you up on that. We have a giant electric mower that we don't use (and I want to sell) and a weed whacker - just doesn't cut as well as a mower.


Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 17:18:09
POTUS is signing the Clay Hunt Act on Thursday.

Comment by TriSec on 02/09/2015 17:20:34
Quote by Raine:
You guys are getting pounded this year.





Actually, we're not. The total amounts are far below average right now. The difference is the below-average amount has come all at once; 14 days ago we had no snow on the ground at all.



Comment by TriSec on 02/09/2015 17:27:46
Mondo, did you see my Saturday blog?


Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 18:14:55
Quote by TriSec:
Mondo, did you see my Saturday blog?



I saw it, but alas I was remiss in reading it, good Sir. I shall endeavor to read it.

Comment by BobR on 02/09/2015 18:16:29
Comment by Scoopster on 02/09/2015 18:23:50
Interesting new theory on the origins of the universe..

Sens. Whitehouse & Cornyn introduce prison reform legislation - this NEEDS to have provisions to eliminate for-profit prisons and debtors prisons.

Comment by livingonli on 02/09/2015 18:45:23
Good day, folks.

We're supposed to not get that much snow this time around but there is a coating of ice which should my drive back to work today fun.

Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 19:40:15
The subject line of our VP of Security Engineering/CSO

"Going rogue? You betcha!" He's Canadian!

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 20:18:49
Quote by wickedpam:


Think their yard is smaller.

Might take you up on that. We have a giant electric mower that we don't use (and I want to sell) and a weed whacker - just doesn't cut as well as a mower.
you should think about it. Eric loves his mower. Sometimes he even mow our sad little front yard… if we weren't renting I would buy one is a hot NYC second.





Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 20:22:52

YOu know, considering that the federal government will continue to pay for the expansion this seems like a no brainer. As more people join the rolls of being insured the subsidies will continue to cast less and less for states as well as the feds.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 20:23:37
Quote by Mondobubba:
The subject line of our VP of Security Engineering/CSO

"Going rogue? You betcha!" He's Canadian!

I love that this guy has a great sense of humor.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 20:24:49
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by Raine:
You guys are getting pounded this year.





Actually, we're not. The total amounts are far below average right now. The difference is the below-average amount has come all at once; 14 days ago we had no snow on the ground at all.

That was what I was inferring to.

it's happened a lot all at once.


Comment by BobR on 02/09/2015 20:27:24
Quote by Raine:
Quote by TriSec:
Quote by Raine:
You guys are getting pounded this year.





Actually, we're not. The total amounts are far below average right now. The difference is the below-average amount has come all at once; 14 days ago we had no snow on the ground at all.

That was what I was inferring to.

it's happened a lot all at once.

Yeah - snow would really not be a problem if it fell at a constant rate across the entire winter season for a total of the yearly average.

Comment by Raine on 02/09/2015 20:27:45
Mala's list of things either I or someone else needs to invent Still has no answer to the Glow in the dark street paint.

We need that solved.

Comment by wickedpam on 02/09/2015 20:43:01
Quote by Raine:
Mala's list of things either I or someone else needs to invent Still has no answer to the Glow in the dark street paint.

We need that solved.



Right?! Someone smarter then me needs to figure this out, cause the paint they're using these days just sucks.

Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 20:44:54
Quote by Raine:
Quote by Mondobubba:
The subject line of our VP of Security Engineering/CSO

"Going rogue? You betcha!" He's Canadian!

I love that this guy has a great sense of humor.



Geoff is freaking hoot. He does all his emails this way. I've asked about it, he figures if they are funny, people will remember them.


Comment by Mondobubba on 02/09/2015 21:04:56
Comment by BobR on 02/09/2015 21:47:05

are they hoping people with more money than brains will get confused between digital communication and analog?

Comment by trojanrabbit on 02/09/2015 23:06:02
The MBTA JUST ANNOUNCED they are shutting down in 1 hour and will be shut down for tomorrow.

This "world class city" barely has a functional mass transit system.

Thanks to fucking MITT ROMNEY who saddled the T with paying for the monumentally fucked up Big Dig then things got punted down the road.

FUCK MITT. And FUCK DEVAL who also has a hand in this. But mostly FUCK MITT.

Comment by TriSec on 02/09/2015 23:41:48
It's all of them, TR.

Dukakis was the last governor that had more than a passing interest in the MBTA. Remember, he rode the Green Line to work every day.



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